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Published: 09:55, February 23, 2022 | Updated: 12:57, February 23, 2022
US sanctions Russia after Putin sends troops to Lugansk, Donetsk
By Xinhua
Published:09:55, February 23, 2022 Updated:12:57, February 23, 2022 By Xinhua

People stand in their building's basement they use as a shelter during bombings in the town of Schastia, near the eastern Ukraine city of Lugansk, on Feb 22, 2022. (ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)

WASHINGTON / MOSCOW / BRUSSELS / PARIS / BERLIN - US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced "the first tranche" of sanctions against Russia after Moscow deployed troops in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed two decrees, recognizing "the Lugansk People's Republic" and "the Donetsk People's Republic" as "independent and sovereign" states, and later ordered troops to enter the regions to conduct peacekeeping operations.

Calling Russia's move "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine," Biden said in remarks delivered from the White House that his administration will impose sanctions on two Russian financial institutions - the VEB and the country's military bank -- as well as on Russia's sovereign debt and three individuals

Russia has done everything to preserve the territorial integrity of Ukraine by fighting for the implementation of 2015 Minsk agreement, but all the efforts ended up in vain, Putin said.

The security crisis occurred due to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's eastward expansion, which has led to the loss of mutual trust with Russia, he noted.

ALSO READ: Russia's parliament unanimously ratifies Donbass treaties

Lugansk and Donetsk declared independence following a vote during the height of armed conflict with Kiev in 2014. Ukraine refused to recognize their self-proclaimed status.

Calling Russia's move "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine," Biden said in remarks delivered from the White House that his administration will impose sanctions on two Russian financial institutions - the VEB and the country's military bank -- as well as on Russia's sovereign debt and three individuals.

He explained that the measure "means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either."

Biden also mentioned the suspension of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany, which Berlin announced earlier in the day. Additional sanctions will be followed if the situation escalates, he said.

The president also announced movements of US troops to the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which are members of the  NATO and share borders with Russia.

Biden said that the United States has "no intention of fighting Russia" but will "abide by" its commitments to NATO.

Following Moscow's recognition of Lugansk and Donetsk, Biden signed an executive order on Monday banning Americans from doing businesses in the two regions.

Senators attend a session of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, in Moscow on Feb 22, 2022. Russian parliament's upper house on Feb 22 voted to allow President Vladimir Putin to use the Russian army outside the country. (HANDOUT / RUSSIAN FEDERATION COUNCIL / AFP)

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov scheduled for Thursday.

During a joint press briefing at the State Department with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Blinken said it makes little sense to hold a meeting with Lavrov following the Russian moves.

EU Sanctions

In Brussels,  European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union (EU) is ready to take further action against Russia if it continues to escalate the crisis.

In a statement, von der Leyen said EU member states had given their political consent to a new package of sanctions against Russia following its recognition of the independence of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The package contains a number of "calibrated measures" targeting banks that finance the Russian military apparatus and contribute to the destabilization of Ukraine.

It also bans trade between the two breakaway regions and the EU, as it did with Crimea in 2014, and limits the Russian government's ability to raise capital on the EU's financial markets.

ALSO READ: Ukraine urges talks over Russia's decision on Donetsk, Luhansk

According to Josep Borrell, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the package comprises sanctions against 351 members of the Russian State Duma (lower house of the country's Federal Assembly) who voted to recognize the two regions.

The EU will also "target 27 individuals and entities who are playing a role in undermining or threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence," he said.

Furthermore, the sanctions aim to target the Russian state's ability to access the EU's capital and financial markets and services.

"If Russia continues to escalate this crisis that it has created, we are ready to take further action in response," von der Leyen said.

Nord Stream 2

In Berlin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday the suspension of the certification process of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline citing Russia's course of action over Ukraine.

"The situation today has fundamentally changed," he told journalists. "We will reassess the situation that has evolved over the past few days."

"I asked the Economy Ministry today to withdraw the existing report on the analysis of supply security at the Federal Network Agency," Scholz said, adding that it was a necessary administrative step to prevent the certification and thus the operation of Nord Stream 2.

READ MORE: Putin recognizes 2 'independent republics' in eastern Ukraine

Russia's decision to recognize LPR and DPR as independent states was a "serious breach of international law" that violated the Minsk agreements and the Charter of the United Nations, Scholz said.

UN chief for peaceful solution 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed on Tuesday that the world body will never give up on finding a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis. 

"We must rally and meet this challenge together for peace, and to save the people of Ukraine and beyond from the scourge of war," the UN chief told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York. 

"It is high time to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations," he said, adding that he is "fully committed to" all efforts to resolve this crisis "without further bloodshed." 

The UN chief said that he is "deeply troubled" by the latest developments regarding Ukraine – including reports of increased ceasefire violations across the contact line and the real risk of further escalation on the ground. 

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